If I search this blog it tells me that by January 14 of this year I was already stuck for the ending of my current novel. That means that I’ve been stuck for over six months.
Category: Thoughts about Writing
bookmark_borderOne theory why Dan Brown writes so badly
Dan Brown is infamous in the world of grammarians. One of my favourite resources, It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences
bookmark_borderWriting in Sentence Fragments
Sentences are supposed to contain a subject and an object. Incomplete phrases should be included in the same sentence as the main clause, joined to it by commas or semicolons or the like. Paragraphs should be built from related sentences, and split when you change speaker or focus. Them’s the rules.
bookmark_borderUsing the Unreliable Narrator
I thought it was going to be easy. I thought it would be obvious.
I decided to use an unreliable narrator in my writing exercises blog. I thought the result was interesting, so I worked some more with it and showed it around for critique.
bookmark_borderWriting Review: Divergent, and other YA
More results from my project of working through some top reading lists. Next up: Divergent
bookmark_borderTechnique, and Rock and Roll
At some point — somewhere around one or two years ago — I made a conscious effort to focus less on larger elements and to pay attention to how I worked with phrases, sentences, paragraphs; the elements of writing in general as opposed to the elements of a novel or of fiction that you learn in school. My theory was that the larger inspirations could be explored and developed at any time in my writing career, and that if I could spend the time now working on my technique, then I would have that technique available to me later, to better or to properly present the grander aspects of amazing plots or irresistible characters. Over the years I have developed confidence in my fount of raw inspiration and ideas, though the execution and timeliness is sometimes inconsistent.
bookmark_borderGoodreads reading
I’m still working on my project; reading through various titles of a Goodreads list.
My object is to sample recommendations from various genres with minimal bias or preparation. Since I’m reading only e-books downloaded from the library I don’t see the summary notes on the inside jacket, the glowing reviews, or more about the author. Just a cover, the title, and the author’s name.
bookmark_borderWriting a Character Driven Novel
I’ve completed four novels to date, all connected with some form of writing competition; three NaNoWriMos and one 3DayNovel; a 23,500 word submission which subsequently expanded into a 60,000 word novel.
bookmark_borderThe Kefuffel over Alice Munro
Back on September 25, the author and literature instructor David Gilmour was quote as saying in an interview, Continue reading “The Kefuffel over Alice Munro”
bookmark_borderTiresome critiqing
Many of us fiction-writing types belong to one or more critiquing exchanges. Stephen King has his wife and a writing friend that review his works. Writing classes or workshops are, in whole or in part, made up of reviewing and critiquing the efforts of the participants. I belong to a local writing group and loosely to a couple online groups (one forum, one email).